My God... it's full of pixels
The 700T1C's display looks gorgeous. This is an 11.6" panel with a 400 cd/m² luminance rating and a 1920x1080 resolution, which gives it a pixel-per-inch count of about 190.

The pixel density is high enough that, out of the box, Samsung enables the "Make everything on your screen bigger" setting in Windows 8's Modern UI environment. We've complained about how that setting makes things look too big on a 13.3" 1080p screen (and that disabling it makes everything looks too small). On the 700T1C's smaller 11.6" display, however, the scaling looks perfect. Modern UI widgets are just the right size, and text is neither too big nor too small. The extra pixel density adds a nice degree of crispness and smoothness to fonts, as well, which enhances readability.

Fonts are a bit more jagged than on the iPad, but that's no wonder, since the iPad has a higher 264 PPI pixel density. Nevertheless, text on the 700T1C's display is still far crisper than pedestrian 1366x768 screens like that of the VivoTab RT.

The desktop environment also benefits from the crisper fonts, and most of the UI widgets scale reasonably well. There are a few exceptions, though. You'll occasionally encounter apps that ignore the default 125% scaling setting and insist on looking really tiny. Hopefully, the number of those applications will shrink over time, as more and more high-PPI Windows machines crop up on store shelves.

Samsung hasn't confirmed what LCD panel technology the 700T1C uses. However, the screen can display consistent colors when viewed off-center, which is a tell-tale sign of IPS and PLS panels. The shots above show the screen leaning back at 110°, rotated 30° to the side, facing the camera at 90°, and leaning forward at 70°. Colors and contrast are largely consistent throughout. There is some darkening when the screen is viewed from the side, but the colors still look correct. TN panels don't fare nearly as well in this test.

Samsung 700T1C

Oddly enough, though, the 700T1C has a narrower color gamut than both of the IPS contenders we tested—the iPad 3 and Asus UX31A. According to the plot above, which was generated by HCFR Colormeter using our X-Rite EyeOne colorimeter, the 700T1C shows more blues but fewer magentas and reds.

Samsung 700T1C

The default color temperature is closer to 7000K than 6500K, and that makes colors a little cooler than on the iPad 3. The difference is small, though. You may be hard-pressed to notice unless you look at the two screens side by side.

371 cd/m²
(90%)

411 cd/m²
(100%)

390 cd/m²
(95%)

365 cd/m²
(89%)

398 cd/m²
(97%)

376 cd/m²
(91%)

382 cd/m²
(93%)

373 cd/m²
(91%)

395 cd/m²
(96%)

We test backlight uniformity by maxing out the display brightness and taking readings at nine points across the screen. The 700T1C's panel exhibits an 11% difference between its brightest and darkest points, which is actually not so bad. We've seen differences as large as 20% on some panels. We should point out, of course, that these are luminance figures, and an 11% difference in luminance doesn't necessarily translate into an 11% difference in perceived brightness. Subjectively, the 700T1C's display doesn't really look inconsistent when showing a plain white color.

Display a plain black color, on the other hand, and you can see the effects of moderate backlight leakage with the naked eye. As the photo above shows, the symptoms are most obvious at the top of the screen and in the bottom left corner. If you're watching a letterboxed movie in a dark room, you'll likely notice the bright smudges in those areas.

Despite these minor imperfections, this is a fine display. It has vibrant colors, great viewing angles, and a pixel density high enough to make text look almost like a printed page. The only real downside is the 16:9 aspect ratio, which makes portrait use a little awkward. 16:9 screens aren't exactly uncommon among non-Apple tablets, however, so it's not like the 700T1C is bucking the trend.

Just as important as how the touch screen looks is how it feels, and the 700T1C responds to input quickly and smoothly. That's perhaps unremarkable, since even $500 WinRT slates don't feel sluggish or unresponsive, but it still bears mentioning. The level of UI smoothness and responsiveness should please even folks spoiled by Apple devices and Android offerings infused with Project Butter goodness.